4 release_managers_guide - Releasing a new version of perl 5.x
6 XXX as of Jul 2009, this file is still a work-in-progress. I think it
7 contains all the actions needed to build a release, but things may have
8 got skipped, and some things could do with polishing. Note that things
9 change each release, there may be new things not covered here, or
10 tools may need updating. DAPM
14 This document describes the series of tasks required - some automatic, some
15 manual - to produce a perl release of some description, be that a snaphot,
16 release candidate, or final release.
18 The release process is primarily executed by the current pumpking.
20 This document both helps as a check-list for the pumpking and is
21 a base for ideas on how the various tasks could be automated or
24 The outline of a typical release cycle is as follows:
26 (5.10.1 is released, and post-release actions have been done)
30 an occasional snapshot is released, that still identifies itself as
35 a few weeks before the release, a number of steps are performed,
36 including bumping the version to 5.10.2
38 ...a few weeks passes...
40 perl-5.10.2-RC1 is released
42 perl-5.10.2 is released
44 post-release actions are performed, including creating new
47 ... the cycle continues ...
52 =head2 Building a snapshot
54 A snapshot is intended to encourage in-depth testing from time-to-time,
55 for example after a key point in the stabilisation of a branch. It
56 requires less steps than a full release, and the version number of perl in
57 the tarball will usually still be the old one.
63 As there are no regular smokes [ XXX yet - please fix?] find out about the
64 state of VMS. If it's bad, think again.
73 and commit it if it's changed.
77 Check that the manifest is sorted and correct:
80 $ perl Porting/manisort
81 $ perl Porting/manicheck
85 If this is a release candidate or final release, add an entry to
86 F<pod/perlhist.pod> with the current date, e.g.
90 Make sure the correct pumpking is listed, and if this is your first time,
91 append your name to C<THE KEEPERS OF THE PUMPKIN>.
95 Build perl, then make sure it passes its own test suite, and installs.
99 Create a tarball. Use the C<-s> option to specify a suitable suffix for
100 the tarball and directory name:
102 $ cd root/of/perl/tree
103 $ git clean -xdf # make sure perl and git agree on files
105 $ perl Porting/makerel -b -s `git describe` # for a snapshot
106 $ perl Porting/makerel -b -s RC1 # for a release candidate
107 $ perl Porting/makerel -b # for a final release
109 This creates the directory F<../perl-x.y.z-RC1> or similar, copies all
110 the MANIFEST files into it, sets the correct permissions on them,
111 adds DOS line endings to some, then tars it up as
112 F<../perl-x.y.z-RC1.tar.gz>. With C<-b>, it also creates a C<tar.bz2> file.
114 XXX if we go for extra tags and branches stuff, then add the extra details
119 Copy the tarballs (.gz and possibly .bz2) to a web server somewhere you
124 Download the tarball to some other machine (for a release candidate, to
125 two or more servers: IRC is good for this).
129 Check that C<./Configure -des && make all test> works in one place.
133 Check that C<./Configure ... && make all test_harness install> works.
137 Check that the output of C<perl -v> and C<perl -V> are as expected,
138 especially as regards version numbers, patch and/or RC levels, and @INC
139 paths. Note that the results may be different without a F<.git/> directory,
140 which is why you should test from the tarball.
144 Bootstrap the CPAN client on the clean install.
149 XXX pick something new; this is now bundled
153 Bootstrap the CPANPLUS client.
157 Install an XS module.
161 If all is well, announce the snapshot to p5p. (For a release candidate,
162 instead follow the further steps described later.)
166 =head2 Actions prior to the first release candidate
168 A week or two before the first release candidate, there are some additional
169 tasks you should perform (actually, some of these should be done regularly
170 anyway, but they definitely need doing now):
176 Check F<Maintainers.pl> for consistency; both these commands should
179 perl Porting/Maintainers --checkmani
180 perl Porting/Maintainers --checkmani lib/ ext/
184 Ensure that dual-life CPAN modules are synchronised with CPAN. Basically,
187 ./perl -Ilib Porting/core-cpan-diff -a -o /tmp/corediffs
189 to see any inconsistencies between the core and CPAN versions of distros,
190 then fix the core, or cajole CPAN authors as appropriate. See also the
191 C<-d> and C<-v> options for more detail. You'll probably want to use the
192 C<-c cachedir> option to avoid repeated CPAN downloads.
194 To see which core distro versions differ from the current CPAN versions:
196 ./perl -Ilib Porting/core-cpan-diff -x -a
198 if you are making a maint release, run C<core-cpan-diff> on both blead and
199 maint, then diff the two outputs. Compare this with what you expect, and if
200 necessary, fix things up. For example, you might think that both blead
201 and maint are synchronised with a particular CPAN module, but one might
202 have some extra changes.
206 Ensure dual-life CPAN modules are stable, which comes down to:
208 for each module that fails its regression tests on $current
209 did it fail identically on $previous?
210 if yes, "SEP" (Somebody Else's Problem)
211 else work out why it failed (a bisect is useful for this)
213 attempt to group failure causes
215 for each failure cause
216 is that a regression?
217 if yes, figure out how to fix it
218 (more code? revert the code that broke it)
220 (presumably) it's relying on something un-or-under-documented
221 should the existing behaviour stay?
222 yes - goto "regression"
223 no - note it in perldelta as a significant bugfix
224 (also, try to inform the module's author)
228 Similarly, monitor the smoking of core tests, and try to fix.
232 Similarly, monitor the smoking of perl for compiler warnings, and try to
237 Run F<Porting/cmpVERSION.pl> to compare the current source tree with the
238 previous version to check for for modules that have identical version
239 numbers but different contents, e.g.:
241 $ cd ~/some-perl-root
242 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/cmpVERSION.pl -xd ~/my_perl-tarballs/perl-5.10.0 .
244 then bump the version numbers of any non-dual-life modules that have
245 changed since the previous release, but which still have the old version
246 number. If there is more than one maintenance branch (e.g. 5.8.x, 5.10.x),
247 then compare against both.
249 Note that some of the files listed may be generated (e.g. copied from ext/
250 to lib/, or a script like lib/lib_pm.PL is run to produce lib/lib.pm);
251 make sure you edit the correct file!
253 Once all version numbers have been bumped, re-run the checks.
255 Then run again without the -x option, to check that dual-life modules are
261 Get perldelta in a mostly finished state.
262 Peruse F<Porting/how_to_write_a_perldelta.pod>, and try to make sure that
263 every section it lists is, if necessary, populated and complete. Copy
264 edit the whole document.
268 Bump the perl version number (e.g. from 5.10.0 to 5.10.1).
270 There is a tool to semi-automate this process. It works in two stages.
271 First, it generates a list of suggested changes, which you review and
272 edit; then you feed this list back and it applies the edits. So, first
273 scan the source dir looking for likely candidates:
275 $ Porting/bump-perl-version -s 5.10.0 5.10.1 > /tmp/scan
277 This produces a file containing a list of suggested edits, eg:
281 89: -MODULE_DESC = "Perl 5.10.0 for NetWare"
282 +MODULE_DESC = "Perl 5.10.1 for NetWare"
284 i.e. in the file F<NetWare/Makefile>, line 89 would be changed as shown.
285 Review the file carefully, and delete any -/+ line pairs that you don't
286 want changing. Remember that this tool is largely just grepping for '5.10.0'
287 or whatever, so it will generate false positives. Be careful not change
288 text like "this was fixed in 5.10.0"! Then run:
290 $ Porting/bump-perl-version -u < /tmp/scan
292 which will update all the files shown; then commit the changes.
294 Be particularly careful with F<INSTALL>, which contains a mixture of
295 C<5.10.0>-type strings, some of which need bumping on every release, and
296 some of which need to be left. Also note that this tool currently only
297 performs a single change per line, so in particular, this line in
298 README.vms needs special handling:
300 rename perl-5^.10^.1.dir perl-5_10_1.dir
305 Review and update INSTALL to account for the change in version number;
306 in particular, the "Coexistence with earlier versions of perl 5" section.
310 Update the F<Changes> file to contain the git log command which would show
311 all the changes in this release. You will need assume the existence of a
312 not-yet created tag for the forthcoming release; e.g.
314 git log ... perl-5.10.0..perl5.12.0
316 Due to warts in the perforce-to-git migration, some branches require extra
317 exclusions to avoid other branches being pulled in. Make sure you have the
318 correct incantation: replace the not-yet-created tag with C<HEAD> and see
319 if git log produces roughly the right number of commits across roughly the
325 Check some more build configurations, e.g.
327 -Duseshrplib -Dd_dosuid
330 Check that setuid installs works (for < 5.11.0 only).
331 XXX any other configs?
335 Make sure you have a PAUSE account suitable for uploading a perl release.
336 If you don't have a PAUSE account, then request one:
338 https://pause.perl.org/pause/query?ACTION=request_id
340 Check that your account is allowed to upload perl distros: goto
341 https://pause.perl.org/, login, then select 'upload file to CPAN'; there
342 should be a "For pumpkings only: Send a CC" tickbox. If not, ask Andreas
343 to add your ID to the list of people allowed to upload something called
348 Update F<AUTHORS>, using the C<Porting/checkAUTHORS.pl> script, and if
349 necessary, update the script to include new alias mappings.
351 XXX This script is currently broken (7/2009). It needs updating to work
352 with git and a lack of Changes files.
356 =head2 Building a release candidate
358 (At this point you should already have performed the actions described in
359 L</"Actions prior to the first release candidate">.) You should review
360 that section to ensure that everything there has done, and to see whether
361 any of those actions (such as consistency checks) need to be repeated.
367 Re-read the perldelta to try to find any embarrassing typos and thinkos;
368 remove any C<TODO> or C<XXX> flags; and run through pod and spell
371 podchecker -warnings -warnings pod/perl5101delta.pod
372 spell pod/perl5101delta.pod
376 Update patchlevel.h to add a C<-RC1>-or-whatever string; or, if this is a
377 final release, remove it. [ XXX how now?? see 34813 for old way ]
381 Update C<Module::Corelist>.
383 Note that if this is a maint release, you should run the following actions
384 from the maint directory, but edit the C<Corelist.pm> in I<blead> and
385 subsequently cherry-pick it.
387 First, in order to update the C<%upstream> and C<%bug_tracker> hashes,
388 the C<Porting/corelist.pl> script requires you to have a local CPAN
389 mirror. See http://www.cpan.org/misc/cpan-faq.html#How_mirror_CPAN for
390 more details, but basically:
392 $ mkdir ~/cpan-mirror
393 $ rsync -av --delete ftp.funet.fi::CPAN ~/cpan-mirror/
395 (and re-run the rsync each time you need it to be up-to-date).
396 [XXX this really needs fixing to not require a whole CPAN mirror]
398 If necessary, bump C<$VERSION> (there's no need to do this for
399 every RC; in RC1, bump the version to a new clean number that will
400 appear in the final release, and leave as-is for the later RCs and final).
404 $ cd ~/perl/root; make perl
405 $ ./perl -Ilib Porting/corelist.pl ~/cpan-mirror/ > /tmp/corelist
407 This creates a file that looks something like
410 'AnyDBM_File' => '1.00',
415 'App::Prove' => undef,
420 'App::Prove' => 'http://rt.cpan.org/...',
424 Cut and paste these tables into F<lib/Module/CoreList.pm>: the module
425 version list should be appended as the last entry in the C<%version> hash
426 (or replaced, if we've already added it for an earlier release candidate),
427 while the existing C<%upstream> and C<%bug_tracker> hashes should be
428 replaced with the new versions.
430 Edit the version number in the new C<< 'Module::CoreList' => 'X.YZ' >>
431 entry, as that is likely to reflect the previous version number.
433 Then, add the current perl version to the C<CAVEATS> paragraph.
435 Add or update an entry to the C<%released> hash, including today's date
436 (if this is just a release candidate, set the date to '????-??-??').
441 Follow the instructions in the section L</"Building a snapshot">, then
442 carry on with the extra steps that follow here.
446 Disarm the patchlevel.h change [ XXX expand ]
450 Wait for the smoke tests to catch up with the commit which this release is
451 based on (or at least the last commit of any consequence).
453 Then check that the smoke tests pass (particularly on Win32). If not, go
459 Once smoking is okay, upload it to PAUSE. This is the point of no return.
460 You may wish to create a .bz2 version of the tarball and upload that too.
464 create a tag [XXX and branches and stuff ????], e.g.:
466 $ git tag perl-5.10.1-RC1 -m'Release Candidate 1 of Perl 5.10.1'
467 $ git push origin tag perl-5.10.1-RC1
471 Mail p5p to announce it, with a quote you prepared earlier.
475 Wait 24 hours or so, then post the announcement to use.perl.org.
476 (if you don't have access rights to post news, ask someone like Rafael to
482 =head2 Making a final release
484 At this point you should have a working release candidate with few or no
487 It's essentially the same procedure as for making a release candidate, but
488 with a whole bunch of extra post-release steps.
494 Follow the same steps as for making a release candidate, then
498 Ask Jarkko to update http://www.cpan.org/src/README.html and
499 Rafael to update http://dev.perl.org/perl5/
503 Create a new empty perlNNNdelta.pod file for the current release + 1;
504 see F<Porting/how_to_write_a_perldelta.pod>.
505 [ XXX Perhaps we should have an empty template file we can copy in. ]
507 In addition, edit F<pod.lst>, adding the new entry as 'D', and unmark previous
508 entry as 'D', then run C<perl pod/buildtoc --build-all> to update the
514 vms/descrip_mms.template
516 (F<vms/descrip_mms.template> still needs a manual edit to bump the
517 C<perldelta.pod> entry - it would be good for someone to figure out the fix.)
519 and change perlNNNdelta references to the new version in these files
527 Also, edit the previous delta file to change the C<NAME> from C<perldelta>
530 These two lists of files probably aren't exhaustive; do a recursive grep
531 on the previous filename to look for suitable candidates.
533 (see 16410843ea for an example).
537 If this was a maintenance release, then edit F<Porting/mergelog> to change
538 all the C<d> (deferred) flags to C<.> (needs review).
543 If this was a major release, then
549 bump the version, e.g. 5.12.0 to 5.13.0;
553 [ XXX probably lots more stuff to do, including perldelta,
558 Create a new maint branch with an empty Porting/mergelog file
559 [ XXX and lots of other stuff too, probably ]
565 Copy the perlNNNdelta.pod for this release into the other branches, and
566 remember to update these files on those branches too:
571 vms/descrip_mms.template
574 (see fc5be80860 for an example).
578 Make sure any recent F<pod/perlhist.pod> entries are copied to
579 F<perlhist.pod> on other branches; typically the RC* and final entries,
582 5.8.9-RC1 2008-Nov-10
583 5.8.9-RC2 2008-Dec-06
588 Remind the current maintainer of C<Module::CoreList> to push a new release
596 http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/perl5-porters/2009-05/msg00608.html,
597 plus a whole bunch of other sources, including private correspondence.